Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act

Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act is a bipartisan bill that was introduced by the United States Congress on 10 May 2016. The bill was initially called the Countering Information Warfare Act.

In both the House and Senate the bill was included in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2017. It passed the House in this fashion in a conference report vote on 2 December 2016. The Senate then passed the measure in a conference report on December 8 by a tally of 92–7.

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The bipartisan bill was written in March 2016 by U.S. Senators Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Chris Murphy.[1] It was introduced by Senator Portman under its initial name Countering Information Warfare Act, on 16 March 2016 as S.2692.[2] It was introduced as the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act in the United States House of Representatives on 10 May 2016 as H.R.5181, co-sponsored by Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger along with Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu.[3][4] The bill was introduced as the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act in the United States Senate on 14 July 2016 sponsored by Senator Rob Portman as S.3274.[5]

The bill advanced in the U.S. House of Representatives on 2 December 2016, when the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 conference report to S. 2943 passed in that chamber, including the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act.[4]

In a speech to lawmakers on 8 December 2016, Hillary Clinton called attention to the issue, saying pending legislation before the U.S. Congress would "boost the government's response to foreign propaganda."[8] She called on trendsetters in society to work together on the problem: "It's imperative that leaders in both the private sector and the public sector step up to protect our democracy, and innocent lives."[8]

On 8 December 2016, the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act passed a vote in the U.S. Senate by a wide margin.[9] It was included together with the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Conference Report for fiscal year 2017, which passed in the U.S. Senate with a final tally of 92 to 7.[9]

In the version of the bill incorporated into the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the U.S. Congress would ask the United States Secretary of State to collaborate with the United States Secretary of Defense and other relevant Federal agencies to create a "Global Engagement Center" (GEC) to fight against propaganda from foreign governments, and publicize the nature of ongoing foreign propaganda and disinformation operations against the United States and other countries.[10] The bill said this inter-agency effort should: "counter foreign propaganda and disinformation directed against United States national security interests and proactively advance fact-based narratives that support United States allies and interests."[7]

On 23 December 2016, President Obama signed the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act into law.[11] Supporters of the resolution inside the Defense Department have publicly expressed their desire to weaken the interpretation of domestic propaganda protections, laws which prevent the United States Department of State from gathering information necessary to develop targeted propaganda messaging and prevent them from explicitly attempting to influence opinions.[7]

According to reporting by The New York Times, two thirds of the funding allocated to the Department of State under the bill meant to be transferred by the Pentagon to the State Department was never transferred. As of March 2018, the State Department has restricted counter-propaganda efforts on combating Jihadi terror groups, like ISIS, as opposed to expanding its focus to include Russian propaganda in the United States. These efforts are conducted by the GEC. While the GEC's 23 analysts speak several Middle Eastern languages, none are fluent in Russian.[12]